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“You won’t?” Angel asked. She seemed genuinely surprised.
“No, I’m staying,” she paused, surprised that she was about to blurt it out. “I’m surprised you don’t know already, too. Everyone else seems to.”
Angel gave her a questioning stare.
“I’ll be staying at Brad Dupont’s place. We’re seeing each other.”
By the expression on her face, either Angel was a great actress and wanted to preserve her privacy, or she hadn’t heard. “Oh, wow. That’s great. He’s a nice guy. And I can definitely see you two together,” she said.
Laura Lee felt a bit flustered. She was also going to ask for the GYN’s info, but after just telling her she was going to stay at Brad’s, she didn’t want Angel to assume she wanted to see him for birth control. She decided that she’d call Elizabeth instead. “Anyway, I just wanted you to know and to thank you for all your help while I was staying there, especially after my surgery. You, Dahlia, and Elizabeth were lifesavers.”
“You’re welcome,” Angel said. “I’m happy we helped.”
“I better get back to work. I’ll see you later.” She retreated down the hallway and took the elevator back to the eighth floor and Lambchop’s office.
The Digital Team continued to comb through the laptops, phones, an email accounts that were discovered linked to the seven men detained in the raid on the rental house where Jin Ma lived. They worked on it until early evening. Laura Lee rode with Brad back to his place and they enjoyed a relaxed evening. She rode into work with him again on Tuesday morning. But she did plan to leave earlier than him to have dinner with the Delta Team wives and girlfriends. She was looking forward to it.
At ten hundred, Garcia called the team together for a meeting. “We’ll continue as we have been, but I wanted to let you know we just got word that all seven of the students we detained and turned over to the FBI are going to be deported later today. The State Department has taken it over and evidently, there is some deal they’ve made with China.”
“No, not yet,” Laura Lee protested. “I know Xi Laing can be reached. He doesn’t want to go back to China.”
“The agents in Richmond have gone at him a couple of times. He isn’t giving anything up,” Garcia said.
“They didn’t do it the right way,” Laura Lee said. “I can’t tell you how I’m so sure. I just am.”
“Do you want a crack at him?” BT asked.
That wasn’t what she’d been thinking when making her argument, but maybe she would have more luck. “Yes.” She surprised herself by saying.
“Make your case to Shepherd,” Garcia said. “But we better do it fast. They’re getting ready to send them all back to Beijing.”
Ten minutes later, sitting in Shepherd’s office beside Garcia in the guest chairs in front of his desk, Laura Lee laid out everything she’d learned about Xi Laing to Shepherd. “I think I can get through to him.”
Shepherd dialed his cell phone. “Leonard, can you delay the deportations for a day?”
“Why would I do that?” Whiting asked.
“One of my analysts is sure she can get through to Xi Laing and get him to talk. Can I put you on speaker and let her make her case?”
“Sure,” Whiting replied.
“You’re on speaker,” Shepherd said.
“What makes you think that you can get him to talk when several of our agents haven’t been able to?” Whiting asked.
“I have combed through every file on his computer, every email, every text message he’s sent or received on his phone. I know this guy like none of your agents. He’s not your run-of-the-mill Chinese Military agent or Triad member. He’s a gay guy with an American boyfriend he wants to stay with. He wants to live free.”
“We went at him from that angle,” Whiting said.
“That’s how I’ll do it differently. I won’t go at him. I think I can get him to come to me seeking refuge to live his life as he wants.”
“You can try,” Whiting said. “We’ll do our best to delay the deportations until you get here. It’s the State Department’s timeline we’re fighting. We’re holding them at the Greencourt facility in Richmond.”
“Saxton and Garcia will be on the next flight we can get them on,” Shepherd said. “We’ll send you their flight info when we have it.” After he disconnected the call, he focused his gaze on Saxton and Garcia. “I’ll have Angel make your travel arrangements. Get your go bags and get to the airport immediately. She’ll push your boarding passes and itinerary out to your phones. And I’ll make a call to my contact at State and see if I can delay it.”
Laura Lee followed Garcia from the office, jogging at a fast pace. Her abdomen smarted as she ran up the stairs. Sorry, Doc. She got her laptop and backpack, also stuffing Xi Laing’s laptop and cell phone into her backpack in case she needed it. She did take the elevator down to subbasement level two, where BT waited with his POV in front of the elevator. He drove them to O’Hare. By the time he dropped them at the curb at departures, Angel had their boarding passes and flight info pushed through. They had just forty minutes to make it through security and report to their gate.
Garcia showed her the security protocol for traveling with creds and a weapon. They were through the special security screening and at their gate twenty minutes later. They checked in with the gate agent, declaring themselves, where they were bumped up to first-class seats.